In Two Years, 95% of Our Population Will Be Insured: Tigran Hovhannisyan

A recent episode of the “Dialog” podcast featured Tigran Hovhannisyan, Head of the Contracts, Methodology, Quality Management and Training Department of the Universal Health Insurance Fund. During the conversation, addressing the progress of the system’s implementation, he emphasized that the main goal of the reform is to ensure quality and accessible healthcare for the population and to significantly reduce healthcare expenditures. According to him, the system is being introduced in phases, and it is expected that in two years around 95% of the population will have insurance.

Addressing citizens’ complaints, Tigran Hovhannisyan noted that the most common issue among patients is waiting lists for scheduled visits, while for doctors it is the increased workload. He explained that an electronic and telephone appointment system is being introduced to reduce waiting times, while doctors are compensated for the increased workload based on the work performed.

Speaking about co-payments, Tigran Hovhannisyan rejected claims that they are being politicized or are linked to elections, stressing that the procedure for applying co-payments has been stipulated since the very first day the law was implemented. According to him, the amount of the co-payment is fixed and transparent, and alongside a specialist who applies a co-payment, the medical institution is also required to provide a doctor who works without a co-payment.

Tigran Hovhannisyan stated that although joining the system is voluntary, and some leading doctors initially adopted a wait-and-see approach, today the number of those joining the system and expanding their services is increasing. He assured that, in order to prevent a decline in the quality of healthcare, a dedicated unit is in place to monitor the established time and quality criteria.

In conclusion, Mr. Hovhannisyan stated that in the next phase, the salary threshold will be removed, and people engaged in agriculture, taxi drivers, and other groups will join the system.